Earth Day, Sioux Indian Style Ch. 01

He was early for the Earth Day celebration. His nervousness always made him punctual. Instead of pacing and wearing out the carpet at home, he preferred getting in the car and driving to where he needed to go. The drive gave him something to do and the scenery calmed his nerves.

He was nervous about attending his first Earth Day party and over visiting his girlfriend Lisa's home for the first time. It'd be the first time he was ever in the home of a Native American Indian and he didn't know what to expect. He wanted to make a good impression with his girlfriend, only after dating her for a few months and already misreading some of her signals, especially those regarding sex; he was unsure how to do that.

There was something in her voice when she called to invite him over her house for an Earth Day celebration and he suspected that this date could either be his last date with her or the beginning of a very long and beautiful relationship. He hoped for the later rather than the former. Nonetheless, the pressure that this could be their last date added to his nervousness.

Conceivably, she may be the one he would ask to marry him. She had all the qualities that anyone would look for in a wife and he was falling in love with her. Suddenly, he imagined his children, two boys and a girl, looking much like her.

Certainly, he didn't want to ruin things now by insulting her somehow. These Indians were a bit temperamental and she sometimes didn't share his sense of humor. He thought everything funny and took too many serious situations lightly. Sometimes when he joked around with her, he felt as if he was dealing with a foreigner, when in fact, he was the foreigner. This was her country, after all. To her, he was a squatter whose ancestors weaseled themselves land out west under the Homestead Act of 1862.

He had never met anyone like her. Unlike any other woman he had dated, normally attracted to dumb blondes with big tits and loose morals, she was smart, modestly endowed with breasts that were shapelier than large, and a bit of a prude. More than being smart, she had commonsense and a sense of what to do and how to behave in every occasion. Very personable, friendly, articulate, and well mannered, she had a great sense of humor and a wonderful sense of fun, only sometimes, their humor and sense of fun were at opposite ends as he sometimes found out when she suddenly stewed in anger.

Yet, despite their differences, without doubt, he would have dated her even if she wasn't so drop dead gorgeous and with a body to match. Only, she was all of that and more and he was glad that she was. She was so good looking that he oftentimes wondered why someone who looked like she did would be interested in someone who looked like he did. Not that he was bad looking, but he was certainly not her equal in looks. At best, he was average.

Fearing that he may lose her to someone else, he had already taken her to look at rings, not officially, but when they were shopping at the mall he purposely walked her over to the jewelry store. He was curious about her taste so that when and if the time came, he could surprise her with something to her liking. Besides, he was hoping she'd try something on so that he could find out her size without being obvious about it.

They paused by the jewelry store and considered the diamond rings that were on display in the window. They even walked inside to look at more of their selection and she even tried on a couple of rings on her size 6 finger. Even though he was unemployed and had a zero budget, he looked at the big, modern, and expensive diamonds. Fortunately for him, she wanted something small, antique, and special.

It wasn't so much the size or the cost of the diamond, as it was the design of the ring that more appealed to her. She wanted a different ring and a ring that meant something to her and something that signified their love other than a diamond. She felt that diamonds were cliché. Material things to her were unimportant and she carried that forward with her when she looked at diamonds. Whatever jewelry she wore had special meaning, even her clothes were just not typical Old Navy merchandise, but hand me down clothes with a history.

"This was my mother's dress," she'd say. "Or this ring belonged to my grandmother." Her life was filled with significance and he hoped that he was significant to her. Sometimes because of the way she viewed the things around her, she made him feel shallow and unaware. Yet, with her teaching him, he was learning to be more in touch with nature and more in tune with her.

A rock on her finger, not a diamond, but a rock that designated her connection with the earth meant more to her than any gemstone. He wanted something big, showy, and sparkly to show the world that she was his. She didn't need that extravagant display as visual proof that she loved him and that they belonged with one another. She'd be happy with a copper or silver cigar type band, so long as it was from him.

They were like that with everything, unfortunately. They were at the very opposite ends of the spectrum when it came to how each viewed life, how each viewed the carbon footprint that they took up on an already overcrowded planet, and how each viewed their personal responsibilities regarding the ecology and the environment.

Their dialogue was filled with disagreements and they both enjoyed playing devil's advocate with one another by always taking up opposite positions. The arguing heated the passion of their desire for one another and they were never mad for agreeing to disagree. He enjoyed the dialogue as much as she obviously did for them to continue their endless squabbles.

It was never personal and they made sure not to ever make it that way. It was more of an intellectual exploration of how they felt about things with she having more of a thoughtful opinion than him and not afraid to express it. Nonetheless, with her help, he was developing ideas about the environment that were to her liking.

She was from the country, the Black Hills of South Dakota with her family spread throughout Nebraska and Wyoming with some even living on the reservation. He was from the city, Boston, Massachusetts with his family, well, from Boston. A Native American Indian, she was from the Sioux tribe and he, a third generation Italian, had a tribe of sorts of his own, with the family of La Cosa Nostra, the Mafia on his mother's side and relatives coming over from England in the 1600's on his father's side.

Yet, when it came to what really mattered, physical attraction, an appreciation for one another, and friends who were not yet lovers, they were not only in the same ballpark but also they had side by side club house seats. They had become inseparable best friends and seldom did anyone see one without the other.

Anyone who saw this unlikely pair together arguing in public could tell that they shared deep feelings for one another. Watching them argue was a comedy of sorts. Opposites attract was a saying that fit them perfectly. They were so unalike that they were so much alike in that respect. It was not unusual for them to start making out in the middle of an argument and to break off their kiss so that one or the other could make their point and continue the argument.

Saving the Earth was just as important to her as it was not even a conscious thought to him. She spent part of her every day doing something to help save the planet and he expended no effort at all to save anything but money when shopping around to see which gas station offered the best prices for gas. She drove a Toyota Corolla and he drove a gas guzzling SUV.

She was socially responsibility for everything around her and took personal pride in doing her part to help save the earth. He felt that he was doing his share by checking off the box on his tax return to donate three dollars to the national parks and by watching Al Gore's movie on global warming, albeit reluctantly upon her vehement insistence. She recycled everything and he recycled nothing. At the supermarket, she asked for paper and he accepted plastic. They argued over that, too.

The only time he recycled was to return all his empty beer cans and bottles to the liquor store to use his bottle and can deposit to buy, well, more beer. He recycled only when he knew she'd be watching and criticizing him for not recycling. After a while, he just didn't want to listen to her nagging him on of all things, recycling. He was tired of that argument because he had no defense other than laziness.

She appreciated nature for its here today and gone tomorrow phenomenon and what the lack of conservationism had on the irreversible side effects with the balance of nature. She enjoyed taking an active role outdoors in helping to save the planet and to conserve the earth's wonderful natural resources. He hated bugs and preferred watching National Geographic from the comfort of his chocolate brown leather recliner on his big screen Plasma television.

Yet, somehow, they transcended their differences and somehow they communicated. Somehow, when they were alone and cuddling on the sofa together, they spoke the same language when not talking but kissing instead. No matter, when not kissing, so far on the opposite ends in their opinions, they always ended up butting heads in an argument over nothing and over everything.

He was just as unconscious of the repercussions of his carbon imprint on the planet as he was about his mindless waste of natural resources whether it was fossil fuels, flower, fauna or water. Conservation to him meant not littering. Matter of fact, after having seen so many scratched lottery tickets dotting the city's concrete sidewalks and street gutters, he was proud of the fact that he wrote a letter to the Massachusetts State Lottery Commission asking them to develop a plan where scratched lottery tickets could be returned and recycled for a discount to the consumer when buying their next scratch ticket.

Although the plan was accepted, adopted, and implemented, it never gained much favor with the general public. With the discount to buy another ticket, a token at best, the Massachusetts State Lottery Commission never advertised or marketed the recycling program in the way that they advertised and marketed the sale of their scratch tickets. The lack of concern by the Massachusetts State Lottery Commission gave him an excuse not to give a care about littered lottery tickets anymore. Now, he just steps over them much like how he walks through life wearing socially irresponsible conservationism blinders.

This was the first time since he had been dating his girlfriend, Lisa, that she invited him to her house for of all things an Earth Day celebration. Never having celebrated Earth Day before, not even sure which day Earth Day appeared on the calendar, today would be his first time in the home of a Native American Indian and he didn't know what to expect. He was so very nervous that even though he had just showered, he changed his clean T-shirt from the sudden accumulation of perspiration for a fresher one.

The way she felt about preservation, the Earth, and about nature, he didn't want to ruin their relationship by doing something or saying something that was not only stupid but also that was so against how she felt about the planet that she would question why she was even with him. She was as passionate in her beliefs about the environment as he was insensitive to the needs to conserve our natural resources that he feared offending her with his lack of social concern and feelings of personal responsibility. Instead, he not only wanted to support her in helping to cleanup the planet, he wanted to do his share, too. The last thing that he wanted to do was to make fun of what she believed so passionately about.

He even went so far as to go to the library to read about the subject of the environment, ecology, and conservationism. Thinking that the book was written by the famed outdoorsman and naturalist, he checked Grizzly Adams's book out of the library, "Bear With Me, The Reason Why I Won't Step On This Cockroach."

Not to be confused with the bearded Grizzly Adams on Television, as he erroneously had, this Grizzly Adams was without beard and never frolicked with a grizzly bear. They called him Grizzly Adams after he was mauled by a Pit Bull while in New York to give inner city kids a talk about conservation. I think even this Grizzly Adams guy, Anthony Adams was his real name, would be hard pressed to realize the reason for Pit Bulls.

Unfortunately, he only read the first few chapters of the book before not only losing interest in the subject but also losing the book. He misplaced the now overdue library book somewhere in his supermarket plastic bag cluttered house. Finally, she convinced him to ask for paper instead of plastic at the supermarket to use when recycling his newspapers and cardboard, which he never did. Only, if it's raining and she's not with him to make him feel guilty, he reverts and accepts the plastic bags because he likes the convenience of the built-in handles.

Nonetheless, what he got out of reading part of the book was that there was a reason for everything that lives on the planet and that it is our duty to safeguard whatever is here now for our generation to make sure that it survives for the enjoyment and need of future generations. Yet, by Anthony Adams's report card on global warming, we humans are doing a terrible job of saving the planet.

He pulled up to her ranch style house at the end of a manicured cul-de-sac. The house was easily recognizable by their unique lawn decoration, a twelve foot high, hand carved totem pole that was prominently displayed on their front lawn. 'At least they didn't live on a reservation and in a teepee', he thought laughing to himself. Only, instead, he wished that her family owned a casino, that'd not only be fun but also exciting.

He could hear the melodious music of slot machines now ringing in the coins, as he filled his pockets with the cash that came with being married to the daughter of a casino owner. He could see her wearing one of those Indian costumes, a short, brown suede dress decorated with beads and fringe while roaming the casino floor making sure everyone was having a good time. Only her family didn't own a casino and she didn't even gamble or drink for that matter. She was terribly straight laced, in fact, so much so that he wondered if she was a Born Again Christian.

He parked his truck and walked gingerly up her front walkway trying not to disturb any carbon with his footprint. 'What the Hell is carbon anyway,' he thought and finally figuring that carbon came from the burnt emissions of his truck. 'I'll wipe my shoes on the mat so that I don't trudge any of my unwanted carbon in her house,' he thought to himself.

He took extra care in wiping his feet on the welcome mat and shook himself like the dog that he is. He hoped to shake off any loose carbon that may have adhered to him while sitting in his trunk on the drive over to her house. He brushed away any residual carbon from his shoulders and sleeves so much like dandruff, he hoped.

He looked at his watch and cursed himself for being 30 minutes early. Finally, he rang her doorbell. As he stood waiting on the stoop for her to answer the door, he turned to stare at the totem pole wondering what it all meant. It was so colorful that it had to mean something good even though some of the figures appeared mean and scary.

He turned towards the door when he heard the door unlock, the doorknob turn, and the door creak open. He couldn't believe it when she opened the front door. To say that he was stunned was an understatement. He did a double take, his eyes popped out of his head, and his jaw dropped. Quickly, he rushed her inside so that no one else would see her.

She embarrassed him. She shocked him. She excited him. In an instant he felt an abundance of emotions. In an instant, he wanted her. Forever, he wanted to make love to her. Except for her big smile, she met him at the door naked.